City head to Abu Dhabi for mid-season camp

Melbourne City FC will utilise the mid-season break in the Hyundai A-League to embark on a 12-day training camp in Abu Dhabi starting this Thursday.

The Hyundai A-League enters hiatus for the AFC Asian Cup 2015 between January 7-24 and the Club will train at the New York University Abu Dhabi campus and play two friendly matches during this period.

In the first of those games Melbourne City FC will challenge Abu Dhabi club Al-Jazira at the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium on January 11.

The mid-season camp will provide Head Coach John van’t Schip with the perfect opportunity to plan, solidify and focus on the remainder of the Hyundai A-League campaign, which recommences on February 1 with a home clash against Western Sydney Wanderers at AAMI Park.

“This camp in Abu Dhabi will be a great opportunity for our team to continue to play matches against high-quality opposition, train at a high-level and maintain our fitness,” van’t Schip said.

“It will also allow new players, such as Josh Kennedy, and players returning from injury such as Robi Koren, to spend valuable time on the pitch with our existing playing group as we work together on our goals for the second half of the A-League season.”

Melbourne City FC captain Patrick Kisnorbo said: “We are looking forward to spending time in Abu Dhabi training in a high quality, professional environment and playing against excellent opposition.

“We are motivated to improve further in the second half of the season and are all looking forward to the challenge."